“Why can’t they just hire a lobbyist like everyone else?” That should go down in history along with “Let them eat cake.” Anybody familiar with this? Useful or not? Libertarianism and science fiction. Yeah. Just gets creepier. And creepier. And creepier. (But remember, not inevitable and potentially monkeywrenchable.) This looks interesting. (Tip o’ hat to C^2.) Bastards. But as always, always, always — ya gotta laugh at ’em. (Tip o’ hat to Kevin in comments.) (Kudos to The Usual Suspect.)
Category: Privacy and self ownership
Owning our own information and telling Big Brother to get lost
Not that I think jail is a sensible solution for anything here. But imagine if every government VIP whose projects went wrong were treated like this. “Does America Now Qualify as a Police State?” Well now, there’s a no-brainer … But inventiveness never ceases to amaze. Bush war crimes under investigation. Not in the U.S., of course. Even “Raging Grannies” are against SOPA now. Its House and Senate (PIPA) sponsors have blinked. Not good enough, still. But progress. Hey, what about the poor dog’s privacy? (Tip o’ hat to JB.) Ron Paul money bomb for South Carolina still going strong.…
What happens when a corporation gets just a bit too uppity in its definition of IP. I suppose as times get harder, we can expect more of this sort of thing. Shudder. But if it can be made harder on the forces of tyranny … (Some notes on guerrilla warfare) “Complex Systems, Dysfunctional Industries, and Catastrophic Collapse.” Preparedness. Basic. Fascinating. They haven’t found the suspect, two decades later. But they’ve found his seventeenth century ancestor. Yeah. Right. According to this I’m supposed to go to either Switzerland … or the U.S. How about you? Good going. Excellent calm way to…
Pretty good WSJ article on the Institute for Justice. And speaking of justice (or the lack thereof), how about facing 20 years in prison for feeding whales? A businessman’s top five lessons for hard times. Thomas Jefferson and his bible. A little citywide sanity in the war on drugs. But enough good news. Here are a few of the new ways your privacy can be invaded this year. Could be worse, though. You could live in the UK. Or New York. Or you could lead a dog’s life. (H/T PT) (Tip o’ hat to MJR who has become a link-locating…
Happy New Year — even if it is already old news. Whew. What a couple of months its been. I’ve been deadlining solidly since at least early November, and though it’s interesting work (art, mostly), I’m tired. This week is the biggest push of all, so in a minute here I’m going to turn the blog over to MJR (who found and sent a host of interesting newsbits) and get back to work on my assignments. —– But first … some more thank yous. Thanks to JS and SC at Paladin Press, I got a photocopy of that Playboy article…
Been collecting again … Your awwwwww story for the day: An unlikely mother. But this is pretty awww-some, too. Especially if you consider what would have happened had the government gotten to the money before an honest man did. The 10 jobs with the happiest workers. (And I’m in two of those jobs; I should be delirious with joy.) The dogs of Cat Island. This is in some ways a horrible story. Yet so weird it’s funny. BTW, this is from the Paladin Press blog, and if you poke around a bit you’ll find a few entries by somebody you…
… and a Predator drone. Somehow it’s not surprising that “antigovernment” people would be the first. Supposedly they used the drone to make sure these “enemies” were outside and unarmed. Not sure how they could tell about the unarmed part. Do Predators see through clothes, or what? (Thanks once again to JS.)
This came this morning from Daniel Adams of the wonderful “Facebook for farmers,” Earthineer. (Check it out if you haven’t already.) “Federal Agents Demand Customer Lists from Mormon Food Storage Facility.” Given the lack of detail in the report (which federal agency, which Mormon facility, and did anybody ask to see a warrant or a subpoena?) I’m not 100% sure it’s true. But you and I can be 100% sure more than one fed agency wants to know who’s storing food or making other preparations for hard times — and that those they learn about will be considered potential “terrorists.”…
Shut up. When the Feds are involved. Because this is one way they trick you into becoming a felon, as Ken at Popehat knows. Incredible videos of bizarre natural phenomena. Freedom Feens Fun Forum. New kid on the block for freedomista discussion. From Michael W. Dean and Neema Vedadi. Dave Duffy blogged this first, but it’s encouraging enough to deserve repeating. “For your own good” is the same the world over. (Tip o’ hat to DA.) Standardized testing: it’s even worse than you might think. (Tip o’ hat to JS.) Bring health care back home. Tenting in the old backyard.…
I have to go to court today. No, nothing I did. Just giving support to a friend whose ne’er-do-well son is in trouble again. Going through my fanny pack to make sure I’m courthouse-ready. You know, it’s amazing the amount of stuff folks carry every day that some other folks might consider a weapon. I’ll probably just stash the fanny pack and put keys, cash, and ID in a pocket lest some letter opener or multitool freak out the paranoiati. —– I’ve got two multi-tabbed browsers full of links I’ve been saving for you. But between revelations of Fed shenanigans…